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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. saw — the tool
  4. cold — not warm
  5. ground — crushed
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. face — to confront
  8. net — in sport
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — an illness
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. net — for catching
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — to wash
  17. ground — the earth
  18. net — after costs
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com